Method And Apparatus For Enhancements On Paging Early Indication (PEI) Design

ABSTRACT

Various solutions for enhancements on paging early indication-occasion (PEI-O) monitoring are described. An apparatus may receive a first radio resource control (RRC) parameter from a network node. The first RRC parameter indicates an offset before a first paging frame (PF). The apparatus may determine a time location of a PEI-O according to a reference point determined by the offset. The PEI-O is associated with one or more paging occasions (POs) in one or more paging frames (PFs) starting from the first PF. The apparatus may monitor the PEI-O to detect whether a PEI is received from the network node. The PEI indicates whether there is a paging for a subgroup to which the apparatus belongs.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION(S)

The present disclosure claims the priority benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 63/275,977, filed on 5 Nov. 2021. The contents ofaforementioned application are herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communicationsand, more particularly, to enhancements on paging earlyindication-occasion (PEI-O) monitoring.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this sectionare not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted asprior art by inclusion in this section.

Paging is a procedure a wireless network uses to find out the locationof a UE, before the actual connection establishment. For example, pagingmay be used to alert the UE of an incoming session (call). In mostcases, the paging process happens while the UE is in a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) idle mode. This means that UE has to monitor whether thenetwork is sending any paging message to it and it has to spend someenergy to run this “monitoring” process. In the RRC idle mode, the UEmay enter or stay in a sleep mode defined in discontinuous reception(DRX) cycle. The UE may periodically wake up and monitor physicaldownlink control channel (PDCCH) to check for the presence of a pagingmessage. If the PDCCH indicates that a paging message is transmitted ina subframe, then the UE may demodulate the paging channel to see if thepaging message is directed to it.

In the current 5G new radio (NR) framework, LOOP operations (includingautomatic gain control (AGC), frequency tracking loop (FTL), and timetracking loop (TTL)) and measurements (MEAS) can only be performed incertain occasions, due to the synchronization signal block (SSB)transmission scheme in 5G NR. As a result, the gap between the SSBs forLOOP/MEAS and paging occasion (PO) is longer, and the UE may enter lightsleep mode in the gap. If there is an indication before paging and theUE can monitor PO only if paging is indicated, then the UE can savepower consumption not only for paging reception, but also for the lightsleep between the SSBs and PO. However, there are some remaining issuesregarding monitoring such indication. For example, the time and/orfrequency location of the monitoring occasion for such indication needsto be signalled to the UE, so that the UE can know where and when tomonitor such indication. Therefore, a solution is sought to provide tothe UE with the time and/or frequency location of the monitoringoccasions for such indication.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to belimiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided tointroduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel andnon-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations arefurther described below in the detailed description. Thus, the followingsummary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to propose solutions orschemes that address the aforementioned issues pertaining toenhancements on paging early indication-occasion (PEI-O) monitoring.

In one aspect, a method may involve an apparatus receiving a first radioresource control (RRC) parameter from a network node, wherein the firstRRC parameter indicates an offset before a first paging frame (PF). Themethod may also involve the apparatus determining a time location of aPEI-O according to a reference point determined by the offset, whereinthe PEI-O is associated with one or more paging occasions (POs) in oneor more paging frames (PFs) starting from the first PF. The method mayalso involve the apparatus monitoring the PEI-O to detect whether a PEIis received from the network node, wherein the PEI indicates whetherthere is a paging for a subgroup to which the apparatus belongs.

In one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a transceiver which, duringoperation, wirelessly communicates with a network node of a wirelessnetwork. The apparatus may also comprise a processor communicativelycoupled to the transceiver. The processor, during operation, may performoperations comprising receiving, via the transceiver, a first RRCparameter from a network node, wherein the first RRC parameter indicatesan offset before a first PF. The processor may also perform operationscomprising determining a time location of a PEI-O according to areference point determined by the offset, wherein the PEI-O isassociated with one or more POs in one or more PFs starting from thefirst PF. The processor may also perform operations comprisingmonitoring, via the transceiver, the PEI-O to detect whether a PEI isreceived from the network node, wherein the PEI indicates whether thereis a paging for a subgroup to which the apparatus belongs.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be inthe context of certain radio access technologies, networks and networktopologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, LTE-AdvancedPro, 5th Generation (5G), New Radio (NR), Internet-of-Things (IoT) andNarrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT), and 6th Generation (6G), the proposed concepts, schemes and anyvariation(s)/derivative(s) thereof may be implemented in, for and byother types of radio access technologies, networks and networktopologies. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited tothe examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementationsof the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawingsare not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be outof proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearlyillustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an example scenario under schemes inaccordance with implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example scenario under schemes inaccordance with implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting an example scenario under schemes inaccordance with implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example communication system inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject mattersare disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosedembodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimedsubject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The presentdisclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments andimplementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodimentsand implementations are provided so that description of the presentdisclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope ofthe present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the descriptionbelow, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments andimplementations.

Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate tovarious techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining toenhancements on paging early indication-occasion (PEI-O) monitoring.According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions maybe implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possiblesolutions may be described below separately, two or more of thesepossible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

In 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a radio access network(e.g., 5G NR access network) may include a plurality of base stations(e.g., Next Generation Node-Bs (gNBs)) to communicate with a pluralityof mobile stations referred as user equipment (UEs). Paging is aprocedure the wireless network uses to find out the location of a UE,before the actual connection establishment. For example, paging is usedto alert the UE of an incoming session (e.g., a call). In most cases,the paging process happens while UE is in radio resource control (RRC)idle mode. This means that UE has to monitor whether the network issending any paging message to it and it has to spend some energy to runthis “monitoring” process. In RRC idle mode, a UE gets into and stays ina sleep mode defined in discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. UEperiodically wakes up and monitors physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) to check for the presence of a paging message. If the PDCCHindicates that a paging message is transmitted in a subframe, then theUE demodulates the signal received on the paging channel to see if thepaging message is directed to it.

In 5G new radio (NR), an indication before paging, e.g., paging earlyindicator (PEI), is introduced to provide enhanced power saving forpaging reception. FIG. 1 illustrates an example scenario 100 underschemes in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. Asshown in scenario 100, top diagram 110 depicts a paging receptionprocedure without PEI, while bottom diagram 120 depicts a pagingreception procedure with PEI. Note that a subgroup of UEs may beassociated with the same PO. During a conventional paging receptionprocedure in diagram 110, a UE may periodically wake up and performpaging PDCCH decoding (denoted as 111 in FIG. 1 ). If no UE in the UEsubgroup is paged, then the UE may stop paging PDCCH decoding and enterthe light sleep mode. Otherwise, if a UE in the UE subgroup is paged,the UE may perform paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)decoding (denoted as 112 in FIG. 1 ). If the UE itself is not paged,then the UE may stop paging PDSCH decoding and enter the deep sleepmode. Otherwise, the UE may perform connection establishment (denoted as113 in FIG. 1 ). During a novel paging reception procedure in diagram120, a UE may periodically wake up and check for PEI first (denoted as121 in FIG. 1 ). If no UE in the UE subgroup is paged, then the UE maystop PEI monitoring and enter the deep sleep mode. Otherwise, if a UE inthe UE subgroup is paged, the UE may perform paging PDCCH decoding(denoted as 122 in FIG. 1 ) as well as paging PDSCH decoding (denoted as123 in FIG. 1 ). If the UE itself is not paged, then the UE may stoppaging PDSCH decoding and enter the deep sleep mode. Otherwise, if theUE itself is paged, the UE may perform connection establishment (denotedas 124 in FIG. 1 ).

Under the novel paging reception procedure in diagram 120, the UE canskip PO monitoring if the detected PEI indicates no paging (i.e., thereis no paging for the UE's subgroup). The UE's main receiver is turned onin every paging cycle, for LOOP operations, measurements (MEAS), and PEIreception. If PEI indicates no paging, then after performing requiredmeasurements, UE may turn off its main receiver and enter the deep sleepmode, e.g., until the next PEI.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 under schemes in accordancewith implementations of the present disclosure. Scenario 200 illustratesthe concept of providing PEI for additional power saving during pagingreception. Diagram 210 depicts the synchronization signal block (SSB)transmission scheme in the paging reception procedure without PEI, whereLOOP operations (including automatic gain control (AGC), frequencytracking loop (FTL), and time tracking loop (TTL)) and MEAS can only beperformed in certain occasions, e.g., during SSB/TRS bursts. The UEwakes up for SSBs/TRSs, e.g., every 20 ms (every 2 radio frames). The UEmay enter the light sleep mode in the gap between the SSBs/TRSs forLOOP/MEAS and the PO.

PEIs expected to be transmitted may be located near SSB bursts, thusaiming at power saving not only PO monitoring but also light sleep(s)and state transitions, when no UE is paged. A UE may need extra time forPEI monitoring in addition to SSB. In diagram 220, a PEI is detectednext to the SSB burst 221. If the PEI indicates that there is no pagingfor the UE's subgroup (i.e., no paging), then the UE may enter deepsleep in 222, e.g., entering the deep sleep mode in the gap from thereception of the PEI to the end of the corresponding PF. That is, withthe PEI indicating no paging, the UE does not need to enter the lightsleep mode and constantly wake up to receive the SSBs/TRSs in the gapbetween the PEI and the corresponding PF. Note that the UE may berequired to perform intra-frequency or inter-frequency measurements whensignal quality of the serving cell is below certain threshold. Usually,the UE performs the required measurements when it wakes up for pagingmonitoring (i.e., every paging cycle), then the UE may stay in the deepsleep mode, e.g., until next PEI. Since PEIs expected to be transmittedare located near SSB bursts, power saving can be achieved not only forPO monitoring but also for light sleep between the last SSB/PEI and thePO and state transitions (e.g., the power mode transition from/to normalmode to/from light sleep mode), when no UE in the UE group is paged.Note that Low-signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (Low-SINR) UEsneed to wake up earlier, i.e., monitor more SSB bursts (larger N_(SSB))before being able to decode a paging message. High-SINR UEs may wake uplater before PO monitoring. Therefore, if there is only one PEI for eachPO, PEI needs to be relatively early in order to cover a wide range ofSINR values since a PEI serves many UEs.

It should be appreciated that, with the support of PEI, the UE's powersaving may be enhanced. However, there are some remaining issuesregarding PEI monitoring. For example, the time and/or frequencylocation of the monitoring occasion for PEI needs to be signalled to theUE, so that the UE can know where and when to monitor PEI. Therefore, asolution is sought to provide to the UE with the time and/or frequencylocation of the monitoring occasions for PEI (also referred to asPEI-Occasion (PEI-O)).

In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a number ofschemes pertaining to enhancements on PEI monitoring. According to someschemes of the present disclosure, an offset dedicated for locating thePEI-O is provided in a radio resource control (RRC) parameter to the UE,and the UE may determine the time location of the PEI-O according to areference point determined by the offset and monitor the PEI-O to detectwhether a PEI is received from a network node. By applying the schemesof the present disclosure, a UE may know when and where to monitor thePEI-O. Specifically, the offset represents an offset before a PF, andinformation of the monitoring occasion for the PEI-O is provided by,e.g., broadcast information such as a system information block (SIB). Insome implementations, the RRC parameter may be received in a systeminformation block 1 (SIB1). In some implementations, the reference pointis a start of a reference frame before the first PF of the associatedPOs with the PEI-O. In some implementations, the reference framecomprises a burst of a synchronization signal block (SSB).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 under schemes in accordancewith implementations of the present disclosure. Scenario 300 illustratesan example of locating a PEI-O. As shown in scenario 300, there are fourPOs in a PF, and the first two POs are associated with the PEI for UE-1.The time location of the PEI-O for the UE's PO may be determined by areference point and an offset from the reference point to the start ofthe first PDCCH monitoring occasion for this PEI-O. The reference pointmay be the start of a reference frame determined by a frame-level offsetfrom the start of the first PF of the PF(s) associated with the PEI-O.The offset may be a symbol-level offset from the reference point to thestart of the first PDCCH monitoring occasion of the PEI-O.

According to some schemes of the present disclosure, a dedicated searchspace for PEI may be configured in an RRC parameter to a UE, and the UEmay monitor the PEI-O according to the dedicated search space for PEI.In some implementations, the RRC parameter may be received in a SIB1. Byapplying the schemes of the present disclosure, the dedicated searchspace for PEI may be separately configured and different from othersearch spaces (e.g., the paging search space or the common searchspace). For example, the dedicated search space for PEI may beconfigured with its own PDCCH candidate number and/or aggregation levelto better support PEI-O monitoring.

Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 4 illustrates an example communication system 400 having an examplecommunication apparatus 410 and an example network apparatus 420 inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each ofcommunication apparatus 410 and network apparatus 420 may performvarious functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes andmethods described herein pertaining to enhancements on PEI-O monitoring,including scenarios/schemes described above as well as process 500described below.

Communication apparatus 410 may be a part of an electronic apparatus,which may be a UE such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearableapparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus.For instance, communication apparatus 410 may be implemented in asmartphone, a smartwatch, a personal digital assistant, a digitalcamera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer or a notebook computer. Communication apparatus 410 may also bea part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT, NB-IoT, or IIoTapparatus such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a homeapparatus, a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. Forinstance, communication apparatus 410 may be implemented in a smartthermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or ahome control center. Alternatively, communication apparatus 410 may beimplemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chipssuch as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-coreprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morereduced-instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or morecomplex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. Communicationapparatus 310 may include at least some of those components shown inFIG. 4 such as a processor 412, for example. Communication apparatus 410may further include one or more other components not pertinent to theproposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply,display device and/or user interface device), and, thus, suchcomponent(s) of communication apparatus 410 are neither shown in FIG. 4nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

Network apparatus 420 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, whichmay be a network node such as a base station, a small cell, a router ora gateway. For instance, network apparatus 420 may be implemented in aneNodeB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro network or in a gNBin a 5G, NR, IoT, NB-IoT or IIoT network. Alternatively, networkapparatus 420 may be implemented in the form of one or more IC chipssuch as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-coreprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more RISC orCISC processors. Network apparatus 420 may include at least some ofthose components shown in FIG. 4 such as a processor 422, for example.Network apparatus 420 may further include one or more other componentsnot pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g.,internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device),and, thus, such component(s) of network apparatus 420 are neither shownin FIG. 4 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422 may beimplemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one ormore multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is,even though a singular term “a processor” is used herein to refer toprocessor 412 and processor 422, each of processor 412 and processor 422may include multiple processors in some implementations and a singleprocessor in other implementations in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware)with electronic components including, for example and withoutlimitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or morecapacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or morememristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arrangedto achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure.In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 412and processor 422 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed,arranged and configured to perform specific tasks including autonomousreliability enhancements in a device (e.g., as represented bycommunication apparatus 410) and a network (e.g., as represented bynetwork apparatus 420) in accordance with various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

In some implementations, communication apparatus 410 may also include atransceiver 416 coupled to processor 412 and capable of wirelesslytransmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, communicationapparatus 410 may further include a memory 414 coupled to processor 412and capable of being accessed by processor 412 and storing data therein.In some implementations, network apparatus 420 may also include atransceiver 426 coupled to processor 422 and capable of wirelesslytransmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, networkapparatus 420 may further include a memory 424 coupled to processor 422and capable of being accessed by processor 422 and storing data therein.Accordingly, communication apparatus 410 and network apparatus 420 maywirelessly communicate with each other via transceiver 416 andtransceiver 426, respectively. To aid better understanding, thefollowing description of the operations, functionalities andcapabilities of each of communication apparatus 410 and networkapparatus 420 is provided in the context of a mobile communicationenvironment in which communication apparatus 410 is implemented in or asa communication apparatus or a UE and network apparatus 420 isimplemented in or as a network node of a communication network.

In some implementations, processor 412 may receive, via transceiver 416,a first RRC parameter from the network apparatus 420, wherein the firstRRC parameter indicates an offset before a first PF. Then, processor 412may determine a time location of a PEI-O according to a reference pointdetermined by the offset, wherein the PEI-O is associated with one ormore POs in one or more PFs starting from the first PF. Also, processor412 may monitor, via transceiver 416, the PEI-O to detect whether a PEIis received from the network apparatus 420, wherein the PEI indicateswhether there is a paging for a subgroup to which the communicationapparatus 410 belongs.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 500 may be an exampleimplementation of above scenarios/schemes, whether partially orcompletely, with respect to enhancements on PEI-O monitoring. Process500 may represent an aspect of implementation of features ofcommunication apparatus 410. Process 500 may include one or moreoperations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks 510 to 530. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, variousblocks of process 500 may be divided into additional blocks, combinedinto fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Moreover, the blocks of process 500 may be executed inthe order shown in FIG. 5 or, alternatively, in a different order.Process 500 may be implemented by communication apparatus 410 or anysuitable UE or machine type devices. Solely for illustrative purposesand without limitation, process 500 is described below in the context ofcommunication apparatus 410. Process 500 may begin at block 510.

At 510, process 500 may involve a processor (e.g., processor 412) of anapparatus (e.g., communication apparatus 410) receiving, via atransceiver (e.g., transceiver 416), a first RRC parameter from anetwork node (e.g., network apparatus 420), wherein the first RRCparameter indicates an offset before a first PF. Process 500 may proceedfrom 510 to 520.

At 520, process 500 may involve the processor determining a timelocation of a PEI-O according to a reference point determined by theoffset, wherein the PEI-O is associated with one or more POs in one ormore PFs starting from the first PF. Process 500 may proceed from 520 to530.

At 530, process 500 may involve the processor monitoring, via thetransceiver, the PEI-O to detect whether a PEI is received from thenetwork node, wherein the PEI indicates whether there is a paging for asubgroup to which the apparatus belongs.

In some implementations, the first RRC parameter is received in a SIB1.

In some implementations, the reference point is a start of a referenceframe before the first PF of the associated POs with the PEI-O.

In some implementations, the reference frame comprises a burst of asynchronization signal block (SSB).

In some implementations, process 500 may further involve the processorreceiving, via the transceiver, a second RRC parameter from the networknode, wherein the second RRC parameter indicates a dedicated searchspace for PEI, and wherein the monitoring of the PEI-O is performedaccording to the dedicated search space for PEI.

In some implementations, the second RRC parameter is received in a SIB1.

In some implementations, process 500 may further involve the processormonitoring, via the transceiver, a PO associated with the apparatus in acase that the PEI indicates there being a paging for the subgroup towhich the apparatus belongs.

In some implementations, process 500 may further involve the processorreceiving, via the transceiver, one or more SSBs or one or more TRSsbefore the one or more POs in the one or more PFs in a case that the PEIindicates there being a paging for the subgroup to which the apparatusbelongs.

In some implementations, process 500 may further involve the processorperforming, via the transceiver, at least one of a frequency trackingand a time tracking based on the one or more SSBs or the one or moreTRSs.

Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/orsingular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate fromthe plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g.,bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms,e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc. It will be further understood by those within theart that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only onesuch recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductoryphrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as“a” or “an,” e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more;” the same holds true for the use of definitearticles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited,those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementationsof the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are notintended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicatedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processorof an apparatus, a first radio resource control (RRC) parameter from anetwork node, wherein the first RRC parameter indicates an offset beforea first paging frame (PF); determining, by the processor, a timelocation of a paging early indication-occasion (PEI-O) according to areference point determined by the offset, wherein the PEI-O isassociated with one or more paging occasions (POs) in one or more pagingframes (PFs) starting from the first PF; and monitoring, by theprocessor, the PEI-O to detect whether a PEI is received from thenetwork node, wherein the PEI indicates whether there is a paging for asubgroup to which the apparatus belongs.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first RRC parameter is received in a system informationblock 1 (SIB1).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference point isa start of a reference frame before the first PF of the associated POswith the PEI-O.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the reference framecomprises a burst of a synchronization signal block (SSB).
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a secondRRC parameter from the network node, wherein the second RRC parameterindicates a dedicated search space for PEI; and wherein the monitoringof the PEI-O is performed according to the dedicated search space forPEI.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second RRC parameter isreceived in a system information block 1 (SIB1).
 7. The method of claim1, further comprising: monitoring, by the processor, a PO associatedwith the apparatus in a case that the PEI indicates there being a pagingfor the subgroup to which the apparatus belongs.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising: receiving, by the processor, one or moresynchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or one or more tracking referencesignals (TRSs) before the one or more POs in the one or more PFs in acase that the PEI indicates there being a paging for the subgroup towhich the apparatus belongs.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: performing, by the processor, at least one of a frequencytracking and a time tracking based on the one or more SSBs or the one ormore TRSs.
 10. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver which, duringoperation, wirelessly communicates with a network node of a wirelessnetwork; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver suchthat, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:receiving, via the transceiver, a first radio resource control (RRC)parameter from the network node, wherein the first RRC parameterindicates an offset before a first paging frame (PF); determining a timelocation of a paging early indication-occasion (PEI-O) according to areference point determined by the offset, wherein the PEI-O isassociated with one or more paging occasions (POs) in one or more pagingframes (PFs) starting from the first PF; and monitoring, via thetransceiver, the PEI-O to detect whether a PEI is received from thenetwork node, wherein the PEI indicates whether there is a paging for asubgroup to which the apparatus belongs.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the first RRC parameter is received in a system informationblock 1 (SIB1).
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the referencepoint is a start of a reference frame before the first PF of theassociated POs with the PEI-O.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe reference frame comprises a burst of a synchronization signal block(SSB).
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, during operation, theprocessor further performs operations comprising: receiving, via thetransceiver, a second RRC parameter from the network node, wherein thesecond RRC parameter indicates a dedicated search space for PEI; andwherein the monitoring of the PEI-O is performed according to thededicated search space for PEI.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, whereinthe second RRC parameter is received in a system information block 1(SIB1).
 16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, during operation, theprocessor further performs operations comprising: monitoring, via thetransceiver, a PO associated with the apparatus in a case that the PEIindicates there being a paging for the subgroup to which the apparatusbelongs.
 17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, during operation, theprocessor further performs operations comprising: receiving, via thetransceiver, one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or one ormore tracking reference signals (TRSs) before the one or more POs in theone or more PFs in a case that the PEI indicates there being a pagingfor the subgroup to which the apparatus belongs.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein, during operation, the processor further performsoperations comprising: performing, via the transceiver, at least one ofa frequency tracking and a time tracking based on the one or more SSBsor the one or more TRSs.